To dummy or not to dummy

I'm sure this is a highly contentious issue, and one no doubt debated on here endlessly, but we're considering getting a dummy for our 3 week old. Breast feeding is going well, but the only way to really soothe her successfully when she's crying (and not hungry) is to stick your finger in her mouth which she happily sucks on for hours. The problem is is that it becomes quite disabling to have one hand stuck in baby's mouth the whole time, and therefore we're considering a dummy.

Having read the Mumsnet guide on dummies for newborns, the only real concern I have is that it maybe confuses them about nipples and potentially causes problems with breast feeding as a result. Has anyone experienced this at all, or have you given your newborn a dummy and had no problems breast feeding afterwards? Just really keen to get a real/broader picture.

My DD is very similar - breast fed (although she has one bottle of expressed milk a day) at 5 weeks. She's very sucky and we've tried her with a couple of different dummies but 9 times out of 10 she just spits it out! She will take it in the middle of the night when she's fussy.

Evidence suggests that dummies actually decrease SIDS risk (something to do with sucking) so I wouldn't be opposed to her having it but she just won't. I generally find the main issue with dummies is getting rid of them later!

They do reckon you shouldn't introduce them until BF is well established but if you're confident it is, you could try...

Thanks for the reply HadALittleFaith. - glad to hear you've had a go too. I think we'll try it and see what happens. She's breast feeding fine (also with one expressed bottle a day for DP's late night feed with her), so it may work.

I have dtds, one had horrendous nappy rash so we gave her a dummy. She's only ever had it for sleeping. Dtd1 sucks her fingers, I think the dummy will be easier to get rid of than stopping dtd1 finger sucking! At 6mo, dtd1 had a sore on her finger from too much sucking and my gp noticed and said I should get her on a dummy as her finger could get infected and she's clearly a child who likes to suck... She had no interest in one at all!

Forgot to say, I bf dtds for just over 6 months and the twin I struggled with was the one without the dummy. She had it at 2 days old due to being in scbu and it was to encourage sucking while tube fed (something my mw was furious about but the nurses knew far more and I had a content baby so stuff her)Also, my own twin died of cot death so I used the mam ones that are supported by fsids

I gave my breastfed DD, now 3, a dummy from 10 weeks after I got to the end of my rope with her hanging off my nipples when tired. No problems here, was gone at 15 months. Just had a DS, now 4 weeks and started using a dummy earlier this time, I'm confident that he has a good latch and he's gaining weight well. I think the point about cues above is a good one. I follow a rough feed-awake time-sleep routine (not to exact times or anything) but it gives me some idea of where we are going-sounds like you have that sussed anyway albeit with no use of your little finger!!

Not really connected to feeding, but we didn't give DS a dummy and he sucked his thumb as soon as he was old enough to find it. He is now 6 and we're having real issues trying to get him to stop, the dentist says he'll likely need to wear a brace. DD did have a dummy and the 'dummy fairy' took it away when she was a toddler. Her teeth are fine.

I think we gave ds his within the first 2weeks and have never noticed any effect on bf'ing. Still going well at 17 weeks. If anything I think it helped him take a bottle easily which I had to do to top him up with expresses for a while early on when he wasn't gaining weight well. I say do it, it has been a godsend in terms of calming him when he's upset.

We gave DS a dummy from 2 weeks & it didn't affect bf. He doesn't have it a lot - at 7 months old now he has it occasionally to settle for naps, to settle to sleep at night about 20% of the time and that's it.

Ds was breastfed, when he started teething we tried him with a dummy but he wasn't having any of it he decided to thumb suck and stopped himself when he was 2. Dd was also Bf and she did have a dummy and it didn't affect her feeding at all it was only used to help settle her like whatsoever said. One thing that did concern me was would I be able to wean her off it?? but we did, on her 2nd birthday I had a chat with her about being a big girl and she proudly put it in the bin for the fairies. She was a bit niggly for a couple of days but was fine after.

My Dd however does have gaps in her top set of teeth which may have something to do with the dummy, but this may also be genetic....My top jaw doesn't match my bottom!!, this was picked up on her 6 week development check with the GP.

We gave dd a dummy when she was about a week old mainly to discourage thumb sucking which she was doing from birth. She is ebf and it hasn't caused any problems. She only has it to settle for naps and at night.

Really helpful replies guys thank you. Have been trying her on a dummy for a day now but she seems really awkward with it. She struggles to get a good suck rhythm going with it and it pops out after a few sucks. but I guess we'll persist with it. Sounds like its the best thing to do! Thanks all.